Ecrins

Declared in 1973, it protects one of the largest areas of high mountain in the French Alps, with more than 150 summits above 3,000 metres. Unlike other alpine parks with a history as royal hunting grounds, Écrins grew out of a citizens' and scientists' movement in the 1960s concerned at the growing tourist pressure on the valleys of the Dauphiné, and it still holds one of the greatest densities of glaciers in France outside Mont Blanc.